Changing Tampa: Then and Now

An interesting comparison of 1938 and 2016 aerials illustrating the impact of time and the construction of expressways through various sections of Tampa.

Central Park In 1938, Central Park was the economic engine of Tampa’s African-American community. During the early 1960s, the neighborhood was negatively impacted by construction of Interstate 4, which originally stretched to St. Petersburg. In 1971, I-4 west of Malfunction Junction was redesignated as I-75. When a new stretch of I-75 was completed just east of Tampa, the Central Park segment was redesignated as I-275. Unfortunately, while I-275 is a lot wider than the original highway of the 1960s, most of Central Park no longer exists.

Ballast Point Prior to the 1885 establishment of Port Tampa, Ballast Point served as a small 19th century port handling cattle. In 1893, a streetcar line was extended to the community, helping to transform it into a leisure destination for the bay area. Tampa’s original electric streetcar system was shut down in 1946, approximately 30 years before the opening of the Crosstown Expressway just west of Ballast Point.

Channel District The Channel District blossomed as a maritime-related industrial and commercial area serving the Port of Tampa during the 1930s. Before its decline due to containerization, it was home to several shipping companies, bonded warehouses and longshoremen. During the early 1980s, it was severed from downtown Tampa with the extension of the Crosstown Expressway east of downtown. It transitioned from a warehouse district to an epicenter of Transit Oriented Development (TOD) after the early 2000s opening of the TECO Line Streetcar system.

Harbour Island In the early 20th century, W.L. Seddon established a port for the city on what was then known as Grassy Island. For much of the 20th century, Seddon Island had freight rail access and was home to a phosphate terminal. In 1979, the Seaboard Coast Line sold the island to the Beneficial Land Corporation. Beneficial envisioned turning the industrial island into a mix of residential, commercial and office uses called Harbour Island.

The Hillsborough River The mouth of the Hillsborough River looks a lot different than it did in 1938. Since the 1976 opening of the Crosstown Expressway, downtown’s industrial waterfront has been replaced with the Tampa Convention Center, a mix of uses has replaced industry on Harbour Island and Tampa General Hospital has grown to become one of the largest medical centers in Florida.

MacDill Air Force Base The Southeast Air Base, Tampa was established in 1939, just south of Ballast Point. Renamed MacDill Field in December 1939, its first mission was to defend the Gulf of Mexico.